A poll in the race for the Republican Party nomination for United States Senate from Kansas conducted on behalf of the Jerry Moran campaign shows him leading his chief rival, Todd Tiahrt, by a large margin.
The survey shows Moran with 56 percent of the vote, and Tiahrt with 24 percent. 15 percent of voters are undecided, and two other candidates garnered four percent of the vote.
Independent polls have shown Moran with a large lead over Tiahrt. Recently the Tiahrt campaign released its own survey showing a very close race, with Moran holding a lead within the statistical margin of error of the poll.
The contest for this nomination has been heated. In recent forums, both candidates have scarcely paid attention to the moderators’ questions, instead using them as launching pads for attacks on the record of the other candidate.
The Moran poll, keeping in mind that it is an internal effort, contends that Tiahrt has been the most aggressive with negative campaigning: “Fully 44% of primary voters say Tiahrt is running a more negative campaign, with just 10% saying Moran has been more negative.”
Tiahrt has admitted that his commercials are a little “rough,” as he said at a recent rally in Wichita.
In response to the release of this survey, the Tiahrt campaign released a statement contending that “this internal poll from the Moran campaign is about as bad as Congressman Moran’s record on taxes, immigration and national security.”
As with all polls produced on behalf of a candidate, we need to remember that polls produced and released by campaigns are just that, and the results would probably not be released by a campaign if the results did not portray the candidate favorably. Without knowledge of the questions being asked, there is always the possibility that a poll is a “push poll,” meaning an instrument designed to influence participants and produce a desired result.
As it has been seemingly forever since Kansas last elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate, it is likely that the winner of this primary election will be the next senator from Kansas.
Reporting from the Wichita Eagle is at Tiahrt’s campaign objects to Moran’s in-house poll.